Determining the regional impact of earthquake events is useful for getting a measure for direct and indirect regional losses from physical damages and interruptions caused by the earthquake events. Determining earthquake indices that are indicative of the regional impact of the earthquake events makes it possible to inform interested parties in a standardized fashion about the effect of earthquake events on specific geographic regions, i.e. defined geographic areas. Thus the impact of earthquake events on geographical regions can be measured for different regions with regards to a specific earthquake event and/or for one or more regions with regards to multiple earthquake events. Based on earthquake indices, it is also possible to compare and analyze the regional impact of earthquake events over different periods of time which are useful, not only when describing indices for actual historical events, but also when projecting future shifts of indices for given specific scenario cases, e.g., a scenario with hazard activity changes, or exposure/risk changes, which then can be used when building a current risk mitigation strategy. Furthermore, earthquake indices that indicate the regional impact of earthquake events make it possible to define structured financial instruments. For instance, payment based on predetermined trigger, payout pattern, and indexed loss amount would provide better transparency, smoother settlement, and more flexible coverage for clients than typical traditional insurance products. A structured regional and market parametric indices product can offer a client flexible risk transfer solutions given client specific needs such as portfolio location, and risk types and amount not only through a tailor-made product but also a combination of such standard and more reliable products. Patent applications JP 2003162641 and JP 2005158081 describe the computer-aided design of financial derivatives that are based on earthquakes. According to JP 2003162641 and JP 2005158081 a first derivative is based on the risk of an earthquake damage at the site of a target facility, primarily measured by the observed peak ground acceleration or peak ground velocity; a second derivative is based on the risk that an observation of peak ground acceleration or peak ground velocity across a predefined region affects more than a certain percentage of this region. The third derivative is based on the risk that an earthquake with a magnitude equal or higher than a given value occurs within a predefined target region. The seismic measurement values according to JP 2003162641 and JP 2005158081 are based on the peak ground acceleration (PGA) or peak ground velocity (PGV) values determined for the earthquake events.